Best Mother's Day present ever
When I worked full time and wished each working day away in desperation for the weekend, the weeks seemed to drag by. Now that I have that much coveted work/life balance (though for how much longer is anybody’s guess) the weeks are, as Pepi would say, “zooming” by.
Can it really be over a week since I blogged? Shame on me.
This is a brief round up of what we’ve been up to;
Play-dates and Playdough
I invited a couple of friends and their little pickles round to our house for a “play-date.” We had fun with some home-made playdough, which despite being quite moist and needing about 4 bags of flour, was very easy to make and has lasted really well all week in its air tight container. I think the adults enjoyed it more than the kids – we all found the smell quite nostalgic and the smooth, supple texture, like that of a stress-ball, felt so therapeutic to squeeze, we carried on playing with it long after our girls moved on to something more interesting.
FB and the Blues
We watched the BBC news online with increasing horror as the UK turned Blue and at the time of writing a Tory/Lib Dem coalition looks likely. I made a comment on FB along the lines of, “look what happens when we leave the country for a few years” and there ensued a mini debate amongst friends from around the globe…. What’s the old adage? Never discuss Religion, Football or Politics with your friends as it’s bound to end in tears.
Sew Cool
On Wednesday night, I began my “Sewing for Absolute Beginners” course. Initially, I felt that perhaps, the course was just that little bit too advanced for me! The instructor Barbara, who is in her late 60’s, really knows her stuff and apparently worked in London and Paris, dress-making for some of the big couture houses in the 1960’s and 70’s.
The first instruction she gave to us, after handing out some straw-like material and a packet containing paper was “I will need those patterns back once you have cut out the fabric for your skirt.” Well – hold the phone Babs! That one sentence raised a whole host of mental concerns from me; so, we’re making a skirt, right, so why are we making it out of this weird looking cheap beige material, what’s a pattern, how do we know what to cut out, eeek!
I am one of those pedantic students who needs to be shown or told the bigger picture of the task in hand before beginning. Once the initial panic subsided, I managed to stumble through the two hours, pinning, cutting and darting the calico and if I hadn’t inserted my bobbin in backwards (Babs was very patient as she took the Bernina apart and un-wedged the spool for me) I would have been able to start actually sewing! I think I am going to love it – how great will it be to actually make clothes for me and Pepi and to try my hand at making bags, cushion covers and curtains!?!
Date Night: The Sequel
We babysat for some friends on Saturday night which, excitingly, means that the Sticky Man and I have a “free pass” to go out on a date some time in the next few weeks. There are a dozens of films I am keen to see; The Hurt Locker being the main contender, though I fear that has been relegated to the DVD world already.
Running, Bugs and Electric Blankets
Despite feeling slightly unwell all weekend, sneezing and coughing with a dry, itchy throat, I was well enough to take part in the latest Run Auckland event yesterday, though knew I would be very slow. My aim after the last event, where I ran 10km in 1 hour 1 minute, was to break the 1 hour barrier. But alas no – we managed a very slow time of 1 hour 7 minutes, which included two toilet breaks for my friend who is 20 weeks pregnant. It was a lovely course, out at Bucklands Beach and the views were gorgeous.
Yesterday was Mothers Day here in NZ (confusingly the dates are different here than the UK) so I was treated to breakfast in bed; my gorgeous girl “helped” her Daddy make me French toast. She is very clever as she also managed to go out and buy me a very exciting present, my first ever electric blanket! Woo. I never thought I would own one of these little beauties – before moving here, the only person I knew who owned one was my 96 year old Grandma. But, as I have mentioned many times, these Kiwi houses aren’t designed with winter in mind and our bedroom with it’s two outer walls, wooden floors and badly fitting windows regularly drops to single figures overnight, so this little blanket should come in very handy, thank you very much!
May 14, 2010 at 7:17 am |
Good old leky blanky. I can’t say I miss it though. :p